Species
Gopher frog
Lithobates capito
A chunky, spotted frog that spends its days in gopher tortoise burrows and breeds in isolated ponds.
Photo jakeschneider00 (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- About 6 to 10 cm long
- Habitat
- Longleaf pine sandhills with gopher tortoise burrows and isolated, fishless ponds
- Diet
- Insects, other frogs and toads
- In Georgia
- The Coastal Plain; rare
- Voice
- A deep snore
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Stout, with a large head and warty-looking skin; dark spots on grey or tan
- Told apart from
- Southern leopard frog, which is slimmer with smooth skin and a pointed snout
- Where to look
- At burrow entrances on warm, wet nights; rarely seen
Behaviour
Gopher frogs shelter in gopher tortoise burrows and stump holes and travel over a kilometre to breed in isolated ponds after heavy winter rain.
Why they matter
They depend on gopher tortoises and on fishless, seasonal ponds in longleaf pine, and have declined with both.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Eggs — Masses of up to a few thousand on submerged plants
Hatching — In a week or two
Tadpoles — Change into frogs in 3 to 5 months
Maturity — In one to three years
Lifespan — Several years
Calling — In winter
Living around people
- Gopher tortoise burrows and seasonal ponds in longleaf pine are what it needs.
Misconceptions
- Frogs live in water. Gopher frogs spend most of their lives underground in dry uplands.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | Breeding after heavy rain | Breeding | Breeding | Tadpoles | Tadpoles | Young frogs leave ponds | In burrows | In burrows | In burrows | In burrows | Moving on wet nights | Breeding begins |
Where it lives
Recorded in 4 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
United States
If you found one
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